The present invention relates to garments, and more particularly to a garment that includes a vent system to provide ventilation to a wearer.
When engaging in activities in the outdoors, it is common for a person to encounter a variety of environmental conditions. For example, a hiker, runner or other athlete can set off on an excursion or run in the cool morning hours, and continue their activity well into a warming and humid late morning. Some individuals address such temperature changes by donning a jacket that has venting so that excessive heat and perspiration do not build, and instead exit the interior of the jacket via that venting.
There is a variety of vented jackets and other vented clothing in the market. The venting for such clothing frequently is formed from a simple, open mesh that is located in an area of high heat build-up and perspiration, such as in an underarm region of a jacket. The mesh usually is visible to others when the jacket is donned by a wearer, particularly when the wearer is moving. Other venting systems are formed as a flap that hangs over a piece of mesh to conceal the mesh so the aesthetics of the jacket are not interrupted by that mesh, and so that precipitation rolls off the jacket, over the flap, and not through the mesh.
Such constructions typically include multiple panels that are stitched to one another. For example, a jacket including such a construction includes an upper flap. A lowermost edge of that upper flap is stitched along a horizontal stitch line to a middle flap that angles upward from the lower edge, back toward an interior of the jacket. The upper edge of that middle flap is stitched along another horizontal stitch line to a vertical strip of mesh that forms the vent to the interior of the jacket. The mesh is stitched along yet another horizontal stitch line at its lower edge to another vertical panel that extends to the bottom of the jacket. The mesh and its lower edge stitch line are elevated above the lower edge of the upper flap, so the upper flap conceals the mesh when the upper flap is normally draped on a wearer.
While the above mesh construction provides ventilation to the interior of the jacket, it suffers some shortcomings. For example, the above vent system takes multiple pieces of material to assemble it. The different pieces need be carefully cut to size and shape, which can be tedious, and can lead to issues where different size jackets are assembled in one area, increasing the odds that the pieces are improperly mix and matched. In addition, with so many pieces to stitch along stitch lines, the jacket is labor intensive to assemble and manufacture. Where a stitch line is imperfect or is tugged on during use of the jacket, the pieces of material can detach from one another, potentially ruining the jacket. The types of materials and threads for the stitch lines also can be limited where those stitch lines and thread are desired to be fully concealed under a light colored or semi-translucent upper flap. Further, due to the multiple horizontal stitch lines in the vent system, the jacket in that vented region tends to be rather rigid and non-stretchable. This can impair movement of the wearer of the jacket.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement in the field of garments having ventilation systems.